Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan’s Border Guard chief Col.
Turganbek Stambekov was among the 27 people killed yesterday
when a military plane crashed in the southern part of the
country, the National Security Service said.

The crash occurred near near Shymkent, about 120 kilometers
north of the Uzbek capital Tashkent, at 6:55 p.m. local time,
the National Security Service, or KNB, said in an e-mailed
statement today. The KNB controls the Border Guard service.

The KNB, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that
investigators are seeking to determine the cause of the crash
and that KNB chief Nurtai Abykayev flew to the scene. President
Nursultan Nazarbayev declared Dec. 27 a national day of
mourning.